News Archive

NEWS ARCHIVE

Disadvantaged St. Cloud State University students will have access to new assistance thanks to a recently announced grant.

Just under $300,000 from Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation will go to tutoring, mentoring and intensive advising for low-income and first generation students.Three program coordinators will be able to help students with one-on-one support.

St. Cloud State was one of 28 organizations to receive funds from the new grant.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) – Allegiant Air is adding Orlando to travel destinations at the St. Cloud Regional Airport.

The airline announced the new destination at a Tuesday news conference. The new seasonal flights will operate twice weekly between St. Cloud Regional Airport and Orlando-Sanford International Airport beginning Wednesday, December 18.

KNSI radio reports Allegiant Airlines has been flying to Mesa, Ariz., since mid-December.

Two people received minor injuries after a semi-trailer combination came upon a pickup truck and trailer Monday evening.

According to the Stearns County Sheriff’s report, a pickup truck and trailer, driven by 57-year-old Lyle Thomas Johnson of Brooten, was headed northbound on County Road 13 near Melrose when a semi- trailer combination, driven by 35-year-old Patrick Anthony Thull of Sauk Centre, traveling in the same direction came upon the pickup truck and trailer.

Upon the deputies’ arrival, the semi -trailer combination was blocking both lanes with heavy front end damage. The farm trailer, also with heavy damage, ended up in the ditch with its straw bales scattered on the road.

Thull and the passenger of the pickup truck, 21-year-old Laura Dee Johnson of Brooten were transported to the Melrose hospital.

The Melrose Fire and Rescue, Melrose Police Department, and the Minnesota State Patrol assisted the Stearns County Sheriff’s office at the scene.

Two teenagers were seriously injured in a head on vehicle accident Friday night in Stearns County.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, a vehicle was driving northbound on Highway 71 and was making a left turn onto Highway 55 when it hit another vehicle head on.

The driver of the northbound vehicle, 18-year-old Arianna Vidger of Fargo, North Dakota, and 16-year-old Libby Stoltenow of Moorhead were not hurt in the accident. The second passenger in the northbound vehicle, 18-year-old Ellen Wuflestad of Moorhead, and the driver of the second vehicle, 19-year-old Alysa Ann Leedahl of Brooten, were both seriously injured. All four were taken by ambulance and treated at Glacier Ridge Hospital. Vidger and Stoltenow were released.

A garage received no structural damage after a remote control car battery caused a fire Saturday. According to the news release, the Stearns County Sheriff’s office responded to a residential fire late Sunday evening in St. Augusta.

The owners of the residence, 44-year-old Michele Anderson and 43-year-old Troy Anderson extinguished the fire before the fire departments arrived. Only a few items in the garage were damaged.

On Monday Morning, the owner of Tom’s Refuse in Melrose found a garbage hauler parked next to the business’s truck was on fire.

According to the report, the truck did not contain any refuse and the fire appears to have started in the cab compartment of the truck. The truck shed also sustained damage to the exposed exterior where the truck was parked.

Melrose Fire worked on the scene for about one hour to extinguish the fire. A preliminary damage estimate is around $40,000.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) - Craig Will has dealt with plenty of unhappy customers since a new state tax on farm equipment repairs took effect July 1.

Will works at Midwest Machinery in Sauk Rapids, which repairs farm implements. He says many farmers who bring their machines in for repairs aren't aware of the new sales tax. He says it amounts to a lot of money on a repair bill that could total several thousand dollars.

The St. Cloud Times reports farmers and repair shops aren't alone in bashing the tax, a product of the 2013 legislative session that has few defenders. Gov. Mark Dayton has signaled a willingness to put a repeal on the agenda of a special session next month, but only if the session is otherwise limited to disaster relief.

A bicyclist participating in “Bicycle Around Minnesota” was injured on Friday.

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office were called to the intersection of County Road 16 and 293 Avenue in Zion Township where a car had hit a bicyclist.

According to the report, 22-year-old Josie Magnan of Paynesville was driving on 293 Avenue when she approached a controlled intersection without stopping at the stop sign and hit 55-year-old Gerald Johnson of Bemidji. Johnson was given medical treatment at the scene and was airlift to the St. Cloud Hospital by LifeLink. Magnan was also given medical treatment and left the scene by a private party.

Johnson was participating in the second day of the “Bicycle Around Minnesota” tour traveling from Albany to Spicer, Minnesota.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) - Stearns County is poised to become the first in Minnesota to require police to obtain a search warrant before taking blood samples from suspected drunken drivers who refuse chemical tests.

The St. Cloud Times reports the change follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision that's thrown DWI prosecution into a state of uncertainty. The decision has led most Stearns County judges to throw out at least one DWI case on the basis that the state's implied consent advisory is unconstitutional. So Stearns County prosecutors have changed traffic stop procedures.

If a driver refuses to voluntarily submit to a chemical test, the arresting officer or deputy will seek a search warrant for a blood sample. Local judges will be handling DWI warrant requests via fax from home outside of business hours.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) - A Stearns County jury has found a Freeport organic egg producer guilty on food-handling and egg-storage charges.

Jurors found Alvin Schlangen guilty on all five charges Thursday. Schlangen had resisted demands from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture that he get a license, refrigerate eggs, and package and label his food accurately. Schlangen contended he's not in the business of selling food commercially and doesn't need the license.

The St. Cloud Times reports Schlangen will spend the next year on probation and has to pay a $300 fine. Schlangen won a Hennepin County jury verdict in September that found he did not violate state restrictions on the sale of raw milk.

In Stearns County, a charge against Schlangen for selling raw milk was dismissed. The defense is considering an appeal.